I’m going to level with you 100%. I decided to do my own newborn photos instead of hiring another photographer and I regret it.

I love the photos we captured, but I severely underestimated how difficult it would be to capture my own newborn photos – even with my wonderful husband’s help.

I also never quite realized that newborn photos are the first time moms get dressed up post-partum. Going from my oversize sweats to a dress with makeup was quite the shift 5 days post-partum. It helped me realize just how much moms need support, encouragement, and grace during newborn photos.

We took these photos over the course of two days because my sweet girl was cluster feeding. If she wasn’t nursing, she was almost always crying and we were barely able to get a good family portrait.

Despite the difficulties anyone except me could have predicted, we were able to capture some beautiful newborn photos of our sweet Jane that I will absolutely treasure forever.

All this to say, learn from my mistakes. Book the photographer and enjoy the experience instead of stressing over it.